


Percaya

by PotterheadAvengerDemigod



Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alliance Rune (Shadowhunter Chronicles), Book 3: City of Glass, Coming Out, Cute, Cute Ending, Fluff, Getting Together, Kinda, M/M, POV Magnus, POV Magnus Bane, Pre-Book 4: City of Fallen Angels, and Will Herondale, and of course the trademark herondale blue eyes, and stuns the entire hall, including magnus, introspective, pretty much just the scene in the hall of accords, references to Infernal Devices, where alec just flat out makes out with magnus in the middle of war preparations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-13
Updated: 2017-09-13
Packaged: 2018-12-27 16:07:15
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,551
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12084504
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PotterheadAvengerDemigod/pseuds/PotterheadAvengerDemigod
Summary: percaya/Bahasa Indonesia/Meaning: believe, assure, convince"Be my partner," Alec blurts. "Allow me stand beside you in battle. Fight with me by your side. Have my back, because I'll always have yours."





	Percaya

**Author's Note:**

> This should be ok for Shadowhunters (TV) fans who haven't read the books to read to I don't think it'll be that confusing!  
> Also, the fic starts from when Clary's pissed at Magnus for not telling her that Simon was in Alicante, but it's not particularly important to the fic.  
> Hope you enjoy!

**** Magnus meets Clary’s eyes, the red-haired spitfire glaring up at him, her green eyes fierce and as fiery as her hair. She holds his gaze, uncowed despite the fact that he isn’t wearing any glamour, his cat’s eyes in full view, despite the height difference. The girl he saw grow up, the first child he’s seen grow from a baby to the girl she is now, headstrong and stubborn, passionate and brave.

He’s inexplicably proud of her, proud of everything she’s done, what she’s doing now, bringing the Downworlders and Shadowhunters together, fighting side by side in a battle that affects them all. He’s not naïve, he knows that this alliance isn’t going to magically bring the two worlds together, but it’s a start, and it’s one of the few, few times over the many centuries Magnus has lived that the Nephilim have put their prejudices aside, cast away their hatred and dislike to stand together against the greater enemy.

Clary is still staring at him, righteous anger gleaming in those green orbs, angry that he didn’t tell her that her best friend was in Alicante with her, angry that he’d kept that from her, even if it had been for her own good.

She’s asking what he’d been thinking when he kept that information from her, asking if he just simply thought that he’d assumed she wouldn’t be interested in the information.

Magnus meets her gaze, his own steady and unflinching.

“That you’d be too interested,” he replies. “That you’d drop everything and go rushing off to the Gard. And I needed you to look for the Book of the White.”

“That’s ruthless,” Clary almost yells, but even angry she knows to keep her voice down. “And you’re wrong. I would have-”

“Done what anyone would have done,” Magnus soothes. “What  _ I  _ would have done if it were someone  _ I  _ cared about. I don’t blame you, Clary, and I didn’t do it because I thought you were weak. I did it because you’re human, and I know humanity’s ways. I’ve been alive a long time.”

“Like you never do anything stupid because you have feelings,” Clary says, almost resentful, but understanding at the same time, her eyes softening and tension seeping from her frame. Magnus knows she’s thinking of all the times he’s done so many risky things, helped the Shadowhunters of the New York Institute so many times, free of charge and at great personal risk, all for one man. “Where’s Alec, anyway? Why aren’t you off choosing him as your partner right now?”

_ Because he doesn’t want me around when his parents are _ , Magnus thinks, but doesn’t say. He winces at his thoughts, which are resentful in a way that he could never feel about Alec, and then hopes that Clary didn’t catch the wince.

“I wouldn’t approach him with his parents there,” Magnus says instead, void of all inflection. “You know that.”

Clary smiles in sympathy and rests her chin in her hand. “Doing the right thing because you love someone sucks sometimes.”

Magnus knows she’s thinking about Jace.

“It does at that,” Magnus says at last.

* * *

Magnus pulls away from the crowd on the dias, leaving Clary with her mother and Luke, the latter still trying to reason with Merliorn.

He steps down from the dias and out into the throng of Shadowhunters and Downworlders alike, melting into the crowd, his unusually sober clothes and hair blending perfectly with the black gear of the Shadowhunters and the dark colours of most of the other Downworlders.

He glides fluidly through the crush of people, almost unnoticed as the Shadowhunters take in his cat’s eyes and proceed to ignore him, and even the Downworlders mostly ignore him, not recognising him without the glitter and glitz of his chosen persona.

His gaze sweeps over the amassed throng, and a head of dark hair and familiar jet-black gear catching and holding his attention, a bow strapped across broad shoulders and bright, bottle-blue eyes sweeping the room.

Alec. Alexander.  _ His _ Alexander.

Beside the blue-eyed boy are Isabelle and Simon, the former’s eyes lit with excitement and the latter smiling at her excitement, talking nonstop about something that Magnus can’t hear from where he’s standing.

Alec is still glancing distractedly around the room even as he turns back momentarily, opening his mouth to say something, maybe a question or an answer, before returning to scanning the room.

Simon continues talking and then Alec is saying something yet again, this time not turning back as he gets more absorbed in whatever he’s doing -what  _ is  _ he doing, anyway?

Then the Shadowhunter’s angular features light up, his blue eyes sparkling and a smile turning his lips, his entire visage changing from the somber expression he’d worn before.

Those beautiful blue eyes,  _ Herondale _ eyes, Magnus thinks, then grins at the thought before getting sucked back into the real world, Alec’s gaze meeting his, and then the dark-haired boy is navigating his way through the crowd with all the inborn grace and dexterity of the Nephilim.

Towards him. Towards Magnus.

As cliché as it seems, his vision tunnels as their gazes meet, until Alec is the only thing that he sees, his beautiful Alexander weaving through masses of people to get to him, ignoring the fact that being seen together in such a crowd will undoubtedly raise questions, especially with Maryse and Robert Lightwood paying such close attention to their eldest son.

Then Alec reaches him, grasping his bicep and pulling close, deaf to the speculative whispers that start up around them.

Alec pulls the both of them out of the crowd, standing on the edges of the hall, apart from everyone else.

“Be my partner,” Alec blurts breathlessly, pale skin flushing slightly as he loosens his grip on Magnus’s arm. “Allow me to Mark you, and to stand beside you in the battle. Fight with me by your side. Have my back, because I’ll always have yours.”

Magnus chuckles, the Shadowhunter’s straightforward nature one of the many things he loved about him, before his voice drops to a worried whisper. “Alexander, your parents.”

The Shadowhunter shakes his head, dark locks flying.

“No,” he denies, blue eyes flashing with determination. “I don’t- I don’t care about that. I can’t, not now. Now, I fight, I head out onto the battlefield, to defend.”

Steel creeps into his gaze then, a hard, cold determination that Magnus hasn’t seen in those blue eyes since Will Herondale had stumbled to his doorstep all those decades -centuries, really- ago.

“To avenge,” Alec continues. 

“I’ve already lost someone today,” Alec says, and then there is something hurt, something broken in his gaze, but the determination does not dim. “And I will fight to my last breath if it means that I will not have to lose any more. The only question is, will I have you by my side?”

Magnus inhales deeply then, barely stopping himself from breaking out into a wide smile, even as his heart hurts for his Alexander. He’d heard that the Lightwoods had lost a child that day, their youngest; he hadn’t thought of the consequences in terms of Alec’s feelings. The boy had always put everyone else before him, his siblings most of all. Magnus remembers the first time they’d ever fought side by side, against that rogue werewolf in the Beauty Bar, when Alec had instinctively taken the lead, stretching out an arm to keep him safe behind his own body, edging ahead whenever Magnus tried to take the lead, even though Magnus was the one with more experience, the one who’d been fighting demons and rogue Downworlders for the better part of four centuries. Alec’s first instinct was always to protect, to defend, and he’d failed to protect his youngest brother, his family. Magnus didn’t want to think of how much pain the other man must be in.

He catches Alec’s gaze then, those beautiful blue eyes staring into his, and he sees that determination wavering in the face of his silence; Alec has always had the tendency to assume the worst, to think that he would always be rejected because he always thought he wasn’t worth it. One day, one day, Magnus will manage to stop him from doing that, will stop him from believing that he isn’t worth it. Because Alec is worth it, Alec is worth everything and anything.

The warlock glances around for any onlookers before surreptitiously pressing a chaste kiss to Alec’s cheek, grinning when he pulls back.

“I would be honoured to fight beside you, darling Alexander.”

Alec’s smile returns in full force then, his entire visage lit up like a thousand suns, his eyes sparkling like the stars in the sky ( _ eyes like the night sky in hell). _

Magnus cradles Alec’s jaw in his palm then, and Alec leans into his caress, eyes gentle and smile radiant, even through the sadness in those sapphire orbs.

The Shadowhunter grabs ahold of Magnus’s hand, turning it palm up and pulling out his stele, hand steady as he sketches the Alliance rune into Magnus’s skin, the sting of the stele on tan skin slight and almost unnoticeable as Alec makes the obvious effort to press down as gently yet as firmly as possible. His eyes are narrowed, brow furrowed in concentration as his dark fringe falls into his eyes, casting his face in shadow. The effect that causes when Alec looks up at him, two bright blue eyes partially obscured by dark hair and shadow, is infinitely more breathtaking than even Alec’s usual beauty, and Magnus’s breath catches in his chest even as Alec peers at him through dark eyelashes, offering his hand and allowing Magnus to print the matching half of the Alliance rune onto his own palm, a perfect fit to the one on the warlock’s own hand.

Alec laces their fingers together then, the matching runes pressing against each other, pale skin contrasting with tan. A shiver runs down Magnus’s spine as the stark black lines come into contact with each other, completing the rune.  _ It needs a partner _ , Clary had said, and Magnus can see what she’d meant now.

Magnus can feel the connection the rune provides, bridging the differences between Alec and him, and when he smiles at his blue-eyed Nephilim, a real smile, eyes crinkled at the corners and white teeth flashing, it’s then that he feels a pulse of affection ( _ love _ , the little voice in the back of his head echoes) singing through their bond as Alec, his beautiful Alexander, returns the smile, too-long fringe flopping in his eyes.

Magnus feels his heart ache with love for this boy, this Shadowhunter who’s just become a man, but has already experienced more pain than most people, even other Nephilim, do in their lives. He’s already lost so much, and now he’s gearing up for battle, a nineteen year-old boy sent to fight in a war for a cause so much greater than anything else. That selfless, shy, awkward boy who cares more for a stranger than he does for himself, who willingly gave Magnus his strength when he needed it, who fought to  _ protect _ , and not to kill. That brave, stubborn, headstrong boy who Magnus loved more than life itself, who Magnus would gladly give up all his years of life for, would do anything for Alec, sacrifice anything for him. That same brave boy who would never ask anything of him, despite knowing that there was little in this world that Magnus could not do.

Those bright blue eyes are wide with shock now, the pale, calloused fingers in his tightening around his reflexively before loosening, and then Magnus abruptly realises that if he can feel Alec’s emotions through the bond, then Alec can feel his too. And that was a pretty strong wave of love that he’d just sent out.

Lilith.

He’d always kept his true feelings secret for Alexander, afraid that the depth of them would scare the Shadowhunter off, afraid of losing what had steadily become the most precious thing in the world to him. Oh, Magnus wants Alec’s love, wants it more than anything in the world, wants the other man all to himself, but he would also do  _ anything  _ to keep him by his side, even if it meant never hearing said declaration of love, even if it meant that Magnus himself was hidden away and shoved to one side when in Nephilim company, even if it hurt more than anything when Alec pretended not to care.

Because Alec was worth all that pain, and then more.

Magnus flinches away from Alec, dropping his hand and immediately missing the connection of the Alliance Rune as a yawning emptiness opens in his chest, and he feels  _ incomplete _ .

But he refuses to take Alec’s hand again, not when he’s already messed up so badly, refuses to let his darling Alexander sense anymore of his true emotions and how deep they run, because Alec is awkward and shy and so, so beautifully young, and he will run at the first sign of an emotion he doesn’t understand.

But then Alec takes his hand.

The boy smiles at him, shy and uncertain and  _ vulnerable,  _ and Magnus feels the yawning chasm that had appeared when he’d dropped Alexander’s hand fill in again, closing the gap and then their emotions are echoing in a feedback loop again, and,  _ oh,  _ he feels his love reflected back at him, returned twicefold and stronger for its requital.

And Alexander smiles, his grin like the rising sun, unsure and hesitant, but gentle and kind and blinding in its beauty.

Magnus feels his own lips stretch into a smile mirroring the one on Alexander’s face, and those blue eyes soften, the roiling storm of emotions in them quieting if just for a second, and then Alec is tilting his head just so, that fraction of an angle needed to even out their miniscule height difference, and then before Magnus can blink, before he can react, his Nephilim’s lips are on his, soft and chapped and ever so gentle, and Magnus barely has the frame of mind to register the gasps of the crowd around them, can barely even bring himself to care when all he can feel are Alec’s lips on his, his beautiful, kind, sweet Alexander, his shy, afraid,  _ terrified _ Alexander, kissing him in front of the entire Hall of Accords, in front of the world’s population of Shadowhunters, casting his kind’s beliefs to Lilith and throwing away all his parents stood for in one single, enchanting, stunning, damning act of love.

Alec’s arms curl around him, those lean, scarred arms twined around his neck, a position they’d only ever taken before in the privacy of Magnus’s loft, a position that Alec had never before been brave enough to take in front of anyone else.

A position that Alec was now taking in front of his parents, his kind, all the Nephilim of the world and most of the Downworlders of the world as well.

His brave, brave Alexander.

The warlock feels his shoulders untensing, feels Alec’s arms still coiled around his neck, feels their emotion thrumming, undeniable, through the bond that the rune provides.

And Magnus curls a hand through Alec’s mess of dark curls and kisses back.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is more than a few years overdue, seeing as City of Glass was published almost a decade ago? I started writing this after CoHF was published but I have a bad habit of doing half-complete stories oops. I hope you all liked it!
> 
> [My Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/_dreamdweller/)  
> Pop over and say hi!


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